The Hope Chronicles: Gauntlet of Despair
by Hope The Victor
Summary: Taking a Little detour, Hope and Mukuro come to the Ruined Akihabara to compete in a deadly quiz show to free the 77th class. Or is it all a trick?


A Mirapo nearby an old damaged building flashed awake as out of it came Hope and Mukuro in a familiar destroyed city.

"Akihabara, in the Tokyo of your world…" Hope said. "Damn, not a good way to start youre journey with me. Place is bringing back some unwanted memories."

"Yes. I remember this place. The city me and Junko destroyed." Mukuro said.

"I never wanted to come back to a place like this." Hope said before hearing some buzzing before they saw a lone Monokuma walking the streets. "Oh great, one of Junkos toys."

"That's a Monokuma unit. But, I don't remember them being human sized." Mukuro said.

The Monokuma then turned as soon as it heard the noise and walked over to where they were.

"Well, well, well." it said. "I detect 2 naughty people guilty….of living." it said as its claws popped out.

Hope was ready to fight but then stopped. "Man, i really do have a big head." he said. "You take it."

Mukuro ran out quickly as she attacked the Monokuma with a gun and knife before ripping its head off.

"Done." Mukuro said.

Hope trashed the head and looked around. "Oh man… so this is the real face of the world where you come from."

"Yes. We, the Ultimate Despair, brought this world to ruins where only small glimmers of hope even hope to exist." Mukuro said. "Even if all of us are gone, there will still be those to take its place."

"Like me for instance." Hope said. "Sorry. Know its hard to come back here."

"Yes. It is hard to come back to the place where hope died." Mukuro said.

"Aw...adults feeling so sad?" a voice came from the head.

"Yo, what up, principal?" Hope said as a screen came up and on it were several Monokuma and a little girl with green hair styled to look like Junko's.

"You…" Mukuro said.

"Upupupu. Monaca knew something came in...but she didn't expect it to be Junko's sister and her killer." the girl laughed.

"Mukuro, who is she?" Hope asked.

"Monaca Towa, she's the one who made the Monokumas and the Lil Ultimate Home Room from Hope's Peaks Elementary Division." Mukuro said.

"Oh, i see. Well, shes nuts. I can tell by the speech pattern in the third-person." Hope said. "Do you know me?"

"Monaca knows all about you, and your friends. You stupid adults killed big sister Junko and ruined despair. So sad! But its okay...cause Monaca is gonna become the 2nd Junko Enoshima." she said laughing.

"Yup, totally nuts." Hope said.

"Monaca has been watching you and handsome Jexi's adventures. She has also seen the recruit ment of former remnatns." Monaca said.

"So from the very beginning, huh?" Hope said. "What are you getting at, kid?"

"Monaca invited lots of people to play a game. And I even have prizes." she said showing images of the 77th class in chains on a wall.

"No…" Hope said.

"You want them? Then play and win!" Monaca said.

The Screen then shifted to some sort of commercial.

"Ulitmates… they are…" a announcer said. "Unique, yet powerful humans!"

All of the 77th members pictures then showed up.

"The desperate Game Show Gauntlet to win High School Students! A new legend is about to start!"

Banners then came down as did firecrackers as Monokuma was with Monaca.

"Welcome…..to Dangan Warriors!"

'Hehehe! Fun right? Pass through my obstacles and you get the prizes!" Monaca said.

"Fine….where do I go?" Hope asked.

"Hehehe! Go to the arena near the lake shore." Monaca said as a map appeared on screen.

"So?" Hope asked.

"We have no choice." Mukuro said.

"Lets do this." Hope said.

(Cue-Danganronpa- Never Say Never)

Danganronpa…!

Reality slips far away,

Fiction comes alive, we start to play it,

Hope is no more, behind a closed door

As we drift away from where we were before.

Hope and hopelessness become one

It's all meaningless, we've already begun

Yup, we are all one and the same

Never opposites, we play the same game.

So I listen to the world, know right from wrong

Stay focused so I can stay strong

If you ever wonder why I'm trapped inside

It's probably just because I told a pack of lies.

Maybe it's a dream, maybe it was pride

Maybe for myself, I often wonder why?

Until our very last breath

We're running after life, trying to beat death.

We walk a thin line between hope and despair

Running from the truth but it's already here

Told so many lies I don't know if they can find me

Only one life to live so choose wisely.

Heads or Tails?

Do you even know what side you're on?

Does it really matter if it's on the same coin?

If you want to achieve you gotta believe

It's time right now there's the door here's the key.

Just got to chase the pain away.

Let it fade away

There's a ray of hope beyond despair

Move on, look for the truth in this world.

(Only one life to live so choose wisely.)

Break through the confusion,

Find a solution,

Beat the twisted evil things,

Just do it, go for it.

Never say never,

Never say never,

Never say never,

Don't be hopeless, stay focused,

Got to grind every time so they open,

Got to climb real high where the rope is,

It is written in the sky see the opus,

And you know this

Please don't lose hope,

Try to progress keep your eye on the scope,

For yourself or do it for your folks,

Dedication, comes through the oath

(Danganronpa)

From this day forth, stay on course,

No despair, got to have a heart

Take no loss, every step costs.

Everybody wants to see if you fall off,

Keep your eye on the prize,

Been through the worst even cried on the side,

No lie never know what you'll find,

Got to believe, let's keep hope alive!

(L'espoir de l'un

fait le désespoir de l'autre.

Il y en a toujours un qui se sacrifie

Nos souhaits profonds sont tous les mêmes.

Ne perdez pas espoir,

gardez toujours espoir)

Don't throw yourself away

Wipe all tears away

Even if the future seems uncertain,

Survive, find true happiness in this world,

(Dedication, got to swear the oath)

So have a strong intention

And change direction,

'Cause the sky is the limit,

Just do it, go for it,

Never,(For yourself or do it for your folks)

Break through the confusion,

Find a solution,

Beat the twisted evil things,

Just do it, go for it,

Never

(Got to believe, let's keep hope alive!)

The two of them entered the arena and entered the first room.

"Welcome. Monaca was hoping for you to show up." Monaca said over the intercom. "Now we can begin the game." she said as the room lit up to show some sort of baseball field with pitching machines lined up in rows. "First Stage: Field of Despair!"

A cross came up as a dummy looking like Leon Kuwata appeared and many other shadowed contestants appeared.

"For our first question…!" A monokuma said. "The person who was executed by these pitching machines is Leon Kuwata. So...get it wrong and you'll be slaughtered by them as you run. So here it comes. You all have heard of the Seven Great Demon Lords right? Can you tell me their theme?"

Hope wasted no time and banged the button with his gavel.

"The Seven Deadly Sins! Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Envy and Pride." Hope said.

"Correct!" Monokuma said.

"Oh, Monaca made mistake. That was first time you appeared, Hope. Next time have harder question with you not in it. Spotlight isnt yours." MOnaca said.

"But for now...PUNISHMENT TIME!" Monokuma said banging his Gaval on the button.

"Uh oh…" Hope said as a digital arcade screen came up with Leons sprite image and Monokuma dragging him away.

Leon Kuwata has been found Guilty

The Punishment will now begin.

"Mukuro… get ready to run." Hope said.

The balls were loaded into the pitching machines as they revved up.

The 1000 Blows

The two of them ran as did several other contestants as they avoided the balls only with a few of the rear ones being beaten to death by the balls.

As they reached the next room, they saw it was lined with motorcycles and electrical cages.

"This is like Mondo's punishment." Hope said.

"I create course based off of your records in Hope's peak. Even came up with a few original ones, but we'll get to them later. Now its time for question number 2!"

"Okay. Now here is one you won't get. When the heroes first started their adventures together, they were in a guild of pokemon. And there was an evil team of them called Team Skull. Can you name its members?" Monokuma asked.

"Gosh, darn it. Theyre aming for the ones i didnt see. Its goona be hard to take a rough ballpark guess…" Hope said.

Mukuro then remembered a poster of them and the banged the buzzer. "The leader was Skuntank and his underlings were Koffing and Zubat." Mukuro said.

"Wow! Correct!" Monokuma said.

"Mukuro, how did you know the identity of those guys?" Hope asked.

"They were registered in a book when exploration teams started exploring worlds." Mukuro said. "What happens in this punishment?"

"Avoid the bikes!" Hope said as they ran as the bikes were revving up. A life-size mondo figure was placed on each one.

Mondo Odawa has been Found Guilty

The Punishment Will now begin

"Now, lets see you humans dodge motorbikes plummeting into death cages at 100 miles per hour!" Monaca said as the bikes were revving, taking a few of the contestants inside of cages as they moved super fast. When the cages flashed, the people inside were gone as coming out were containers of butter as the rest reached the next room.

In the next room was a large room with stakes and bonfires on each side.

"Now we move to the dreaming Gambler, Celestia Ludenberg." Monaca said.

"And now...Question 3! When visiting Lyoko a second time, Hoopa tried to take back his bottle from Flux who had it for study. Now...what were the names of the three people he took to go get it?" Monokuma asked.

"Now its getting tougher and tougher…" Hope said as a shadowed little girl and her mother were thinking.

"I know I know this one!" the little girl said.

"Me too, one was named Aqua right?" the mother asked.

"Yep. Right. One of them was Aqua." Monokuma said.

'Oh this is too easy." Hope said bangin his buzzer. "Aqua, Terra and Ventus!"

"Correct!" Monokuma said.

" And another was a funny looking guy in white….what was his name….ah! The White Horse Cavendish!" the little girl said.

"Another one correct. One more." Monokuma said.

"And the last one was very strange. He could make those barriers. Darn, what was his name?" the mother wondered.

"Barriers?" Hope said thinking back before answer. "Bartolomeo!"

"Correct. The three Hoopa took to help him were Aqua, Bartolomeo and Cavendish!" Monokuma said.

The screen with Celestia then appeared.

Celestia Ludenberg has been found Guilty

The Punishment will now begin

Warm air soon filled the air as the piled of stakes started to glow.

"Its getting hot… whats happening?" the girl asked.

"Are we about to be set on fire?" the mother asked.

"No… burned alive!" Hope said.

Burning of the Versailles Witch

Fires were roaring fast as they went up higher and higher. But as they were half way, they saw a fire engine on the road behind them speeding towards them.

"Run!" Hope said.

"Good idea!" The girl said as they started running faster and faster until they made it to the next room. Inside of the room was a black space and a 8bit road and above them were 8bit blocks.

"Whats this room? Is this supposed to be an omage to something?" Hope said.

"A probable Execution. One that would have been for the Ultimate Gamer, Chiaki Nanami if she survived." Monaa said.

"Yep. One Makoto Naegi planned to take them to an island to cure of their despair, then we would have a Mutual Killing School Trip in a virtual world." Monokuma said.

"We will show you this killing, after this next question! Hurray!" Monaca said.

"What is with her, mom?" the girl asked.

"I'm not sure, Angela. But do not worry. We will get out of this." the mother said.

"DOnt be so sure. Next question!" Monokuma said. "Now...at Monte d'Or, the group along with one Hershel Layton did battle with a mysterious mad man known as the Masked Gentleman...but what was his real identity?"

"Oooh, i know this one." Hope said. "His name was…." he banged his buzzer. "Randall Ascot."

"Correct. Now, let's show you the footage of the execution before you run it." Monokuma said.

The screen then showed Monokuma walking along nonchalantly as he grabbed an 8bit Chiaki as well as a weird rabbit thing.

Chiaki Nanami has been found Guilty.

She will now be punished. You too, Monami

Chiaki and several of the white and pink rabbits stood in a row as tanks were pointed at them as they appeared in some sort of arcade machine.

Please Insert Coin

"Oh boy…." Hope said.

"Angela…" the mother said holding the girl. "Survive, with this boy."

"Mommy, no!" Angela said.

The Tanks fired at Chiaki and the rabbits, going one row at a time before Chiaki noticed an exit, grabbed one of the rabbits and ran down it as the tank chased after them. But when they thought they were home free, they found themselves hitting a screen inside of an arcade machine, playing tetris.

It began dropping blocks one after the other, one of them soon crushing the rabbit living Chiaki trapped. The final block landed on her as the whole block exploded.

"Mommy!" Angela said as she noticed splotches of shadow all around.

"Oh my gosh, kid…" Hope said before the shadows all conjoined around her...into her body.

"Uh… kid?" Hope asked.

"Mommy...mmmy..rrmy…"she groaned as she grew taller and older before appearing as a teenage girl with only her eyes showing, all of her body totally black "We had to part….but you at least returned to me."

"What ….the hell?" Hope asked. "What….what are you?"

"I'm no one. Just someone from the Realm of Darkness." she said.

"Realm of Darkness?" Mukuro asked.

"It a place with nothing but darkness." Hope said.

"Yes. It is where I came from." Angela said.

"But...I thought only Heartless lived in there." Hope said.

"There was a time when that was true. Before the evolution." Angela said.

"Wait, youre a heartless?" Hope asked. "Wait, I meant no harm to that.."

"Not a Heartless. Necros. A term invented by the teacher after we came into being." Angela said.

"Necros?" Hope asked.

"Its a term for my kind, beings made of shadow yet have minds and hearts." Angela said.

"I like you." Hope said.

"Hmm. What I find interesting is that the symbiote I created to pass as a mother took interest in you." Angela said looking him over.

"She must've found something very unique, like i did." Mukuro said as they went to the next stage.

"We'll see what she saw soon, I bet." Hope said before they found themselves in a wild west setting where animals were in pens as they stood in the desert.

"Welcome. Monaca designed this room as a probable execution for Gundham Tanaka, and if you pass this room, you win!" Monaca said.

"Now...are we ready for the million dollar question?" Monokuma asked.

"Yes." Hope said.

"Here we go! Last Question…..Name the final two competitors from the first Furious Fists." Monokuma said.

"The tournament…" Hope said. He then thought back. "Thats right! The tournament he fought in!" he said hitting the buzzer. "The two competitors in the final round...was Knuckles and Heracross."

"That is….correct!" Monokuma said. "Now here is the execution."

A scene played as Monokuma soon took Gundham with a rope.

Gundham Tanaka has been found Guilty. We will now begin the Punishment.

Gundham was standing in a desert scene as animals were charging at him as he set down his hamsters off the site as he approached it alone.

Gundham Tanaka Stampede

"Whats he doing? I know thats not the real one, but…" Hope said.

Gundham quickly grabbed a stick as he started drawing a circle with symbols as the animals were getting closer and closer. As they approached him, he had finished the circle and tossed the stick away as he clapped his hands together as the circle glowed, before the animals plowed into him and ran him down.

"That man…" Angela said.

Gundham was on the ground bleeding before looking at his Dark Devas, giving a smile to them before passing away. Then, small animals with angel wings came down from the sky and collected Gundham as they carried him off into the heavens above as Monokuma and the hamsters watched.

"WHoa…" Hope said.

"So….harsh and brutal." Mukuro said as they ran and made it to the final room.

"Guys!" Hope said as he ran to them, but they didn't respond. "Guys?"

"Something doesn't feel right." Mukuro said as she looked them over. She then tossed a knife at Kazuichi's head as it fell off revealing sparks and wiring at the neck.

"What the?" Hope said as the students fell apart, revealing to be robots.

"This is a set up!" Mukuro said as the door behind them closed.

"Death Trap." Hope said as Monaca laughed.

"Monaca was really smart. She knew you might be here still. So she set up the perfect trap." Monaca said.

"But the remnants…" Hope said.

"We're never here. Monaca built life like decoys to attract you cause she knew about your feelings." Monaca said.

"Thats it…" Angela said. "What my symbiote saw…"

"Yeah…" Hope said. "I care for my friends."

"And now...you get to die!" Monaca said. "You're inside a large rocket aimed at the sun!"

"Overcompensating much?!" Hope said.

"Are we gonna die?" Mukuro asked.

"You as well, Mukuro. You failed your big job! The scientist told me when Monaca handed your corpse over to him." Monaca said.

"Maddiman." Mukuro said as the rocket ignited and rocketed off into the sky.

"Great, there isn't an escape." Hope said as Angela looked around before seeing a dark space.

"Hope...can you say you trust me?" Angela asked.

"Yeah. I do." Hope said.

"Then you better not let go!" Angela said grabbing Hope and Mukuro as she ran towards the dark space as they phased through the darkness.

"What? No fair!" Monaca said on screen.

Down on the ground, in a passing Monokuma's shadow, the three of them leapt out of it.

"What the? What happened?" Hope asked.

"I phased us through the shadow world to enter a new entrypoint on the earth. How do you think I even got out of the Realm of Darkness?" Angela asked.

"Angela… thank you. If it werent for you, we wouldnt have made it." Hope said. "Would you like to come with me, see more of the universe in the light?"

"Hope...I'm sorry. But I can't." Angela said looking down.

"Why cant you?" Hope asked as sunlight was soon shining as it burned part of Angela as she went into the shadows.

"To a Necros...light is like poison. We stay out in it too long...we fade into nothing." Angela said.

"Is there anything I can do to help with that?" Hope asked.

"Yes….let me live inside your shadow." Angela said.

"My shadow?" Hope asked.

"Yes. The shadow is the one thing about a person that never leaves them. If I stay in your shadow...I could be able to come with you." Angela said.

Hope smiled. "Its all yours. But uh… youre not really pushy are you?"

"No. Why?" Angela asked.

"No reason. DIve right in." Hope said as Angela walked into the shadow and sank right into it.

"You sure you shouldn't have told her about your….agenda?" Mukuro asked.

"I'll surprise her when the time is right. For now, we gotta keep travelling and training. We need to be ready for the day when we meet with our friends again." Hope said.

"Yes. Until then, we keep travelling." Mukuro said as they walked off.

"where to next?" Angela asked.

"Wherever the wind takes us, little shadow girl." Hope said.


End file.
